Although I'm not crazy about his latest album overall, I think "Radio Nowhere" and "Long Walk Home" can stand toe to toe with his best work. At 58 he still has fire in his belly and a lot still to say. There's no one out there who'll be able to replace him. Fortunately he made videos for both of these tracks so I can provide a neat link for y'all. Enjoy.

I don't think they're as good as his best singles: Born To Run, Hungry Heart, Atlantic City, Dancing in the Dark, Brilliant Disguise, Tunnel of Love, Streets of Philadelphia, Lonesome Day.

Magic is a grower. I thought it was dull, uninspired and, in some cases, a retread of previous songs (Livin' In The Future is 10th Avenue Freeze Out), but repeated listening paid off. The album is deceptively simplistic - a bunch of short pop songs with throwaway lyrics. Listen a little harder and you realise that they're dark, troubled songs, full of shadows and doubt. The title song is chilling ("I'll cut you in half, while you're grinning ear to ear"); You'll Be Coming Down is a vicious, if weary put down to a younger ex-lover; Your Own Worst Enemy could be about Bush; Girls in Their Summer Clothes is a middle-aged man trying to catch up with his lost youth, and, best of all, Devil's Arcade, a sort of sequel to Devils & Dust, dealing with both the dead and crippled Iraqi vets.

He's still got it though. I saw him twice in London two weeks ago and those close to the best gigs I've ever seen him play (and I've been going to his shows for twenty years).

I went to see Bruce for the first time at The Emirates Stadium the other week.

Wow. Much better than I thought he'd be. Even with crappy seats he pulled me in. I've been listening to the new album the last couple of weeks and loving it.

Without wanting to sound like a born in the USA groupie, I loved hearing Downbound Train and I'm on fire live.

SquirrelMeat said:

Glad you enjoyed it Squirrel.

First time he'd played either of those on tour. I'm On Fire was astonishing, Bruce sitting down close to the audience and singing it right in their faces. He somehow managed to make the song feel intimate, despite the surroundings.

Did you see him literally taking requests too? Gathering up the signs in the front rows, going through them and holding one up to the band to play. The night before he did a stunning version of Point Blank.

Hey, I was there too. Maybe we all passed each other in the corridor, lol. The show was fucking hot! Definitely one of the most enjoyable concerts I've ever been to. The whole show was intense, but I think the highlight was "Because The Night". I'm surprised the stadium didn't explode when they did that. There were loads of great ones though. "Downbound Train", "No Retreat, No Surrender", "Radio Nowhere". I even loved "Darkness on the Edge of Town", a song I'm usually only lukewarm about. Seeing him sing it in the flesh I totally felt the "darkness" (in a good way).

Shapeshifter said:

What made me grin was that as he was singing there were about a dozen mobile phones right up in his face. Sure enough, half those motherfuckers put that footage on Youtube the next day.

Radio Nowhere is one of his best songs ever, IMO

Shapeshifter said:

I like the album too. I much prefer it to The Rising which I thought was overrated, but there's only about four songs on it that I keep coming back to and of those, "Radio Nowhere" and "Long Walk Home" are by far the best. When he did RN at the Emirates it got one of the best receptions of anything he did that night. It already feels like a classic he's been singing for years. The only bit I'm not too keen on is the "I just wanna hear some rhythm" bit which I think sounds a bit old fashioned. Overall though, it sounds fresh and relevant. If you look at people like Prince or Paul McCartney nothing they're doing now is even half as good as what they did decades ago. In fact most of it is cringe worthy. But Bruce still has two or three songs per album that can genuinely stand up against his best stuff.

InsatiableCream said:

I agree. I was REALLY surprised when I first heard it. I wasn't expecting something that hard from Bruce at this point. He's really showing the younger generation how it's done. As soon as that opening riff starts up, it. is. ON!!